


Heart of Stone

by TheReadingGal



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Apathetic GeirgeNotFound, Assassination Attempt(s), Canon Divergence, Creeper Hybrid Sam | Awesamdude, Derealization, Disassociation, Duck Hybrid Alexis | Quackity, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Quackity and GeorgeNotFound are Siblings, Winged Alexis | Quackity, awesamdad, ooc probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-25 13:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30089685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheReadingGal/pseuds/TheReadingGal
Summary: George has always had a problem with his emotions. At least that's what everyone has said to him one way or another. George didn't really see what everyone had seen about him and his emotions. Well, he did, but he didn’t really try to do anything about it. It was just his way of coping with bad situations.
Relationships: (IMPLIED), (past), Alexis | Quackity & GeorgeNotFound, Alexis | Quackity & GeorgeNotFound & Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, Alexis | Quackity & GeorgeNotFound & Sam | Awesamdude, Alexis | Quackity & Sam | Awesamdude, Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Callahan & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Ponk | DropsByPonk/Sam | Awesamdude
Comments: 6
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pogch4mp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pogch4mp/gifts).



> All the characters written in this story are about the personas that they portray on the Dream SMP!  
> Other than that, Enjoy!

**Chapter 1**

George has always had a problem with his emotions. At least that's what everyone has said to him one way or another. George didn't really see what everyone had seen about him and his emotions. Well, he did, but he didn’t really try to do anything about it. It was just his way of coping with bad situations.

~~

When Sam had found George, he was passing by a raided village. He was looking to the village thinking that he could help them with their rebuilding. He didn't expect to see the bodies of villagers, adults, and kids lining the streets with red. Buildings burnt down and arrows embedded in the bodies of everyone, the smell was _awful._ Rotting corpses and dried blood lying there under the sun did not make a great smell. 

This village didn't have any hope for anything to salvage. The most he could do is bow his head in respect and take his leave. He was going to leave when he heard a bell. The village bell. What? Sam didn't realize he was running until he was in front of the village bell would be. 

A child, no older than 10 was curled up, sitting next to the cracked bell laying sadly beside him, manually ringing it with small hands. Charred and ripped clothing with shoes nowhere to be seen, gashes, bruises, and burns are visible on the showing skin of the child. Dried tear tracks glistened in the sunlight and dark almost black hair matted and stuck on his forehead with sweat and blood. Clutched in the hand that wasn’t ringing the bell was a pair of too big white-rimmed glasses, now stained red, brown, and black. One of the lenses wasn't there and the other was cracked badly.

The boy didn’t acknowledge Sam when he approached. Red and blue eyes stared off in space, still ringing the bell. Even when Sam had crouched down right in front of the boy, he still didn’t move. He just kept his blank face. 

“Are you alright?” Sam spoke in a soft voice so as to not startle the boy.

The boy slowly nodded, eyes unseeing. 

“Can I know your name?”

The boy stayed silent for a few moments and stopped ringing the bell. 

“George.” Sam had only barely caught the word in such a quiet voice. Sam didn’t want to leave this kid by themself. He’s probably already seen so much. 

“Alright George,” Was he really going to do this? “Would you like to come back with me to my base or would you like to stay here?” He didn’t even know how he was going to take care of a kid, but he couldn’t just leave George here in a dead village. 

To Sam’s surprise, George nodded slowly and got up from his spot. Sam heard a few joints pop. George must have been sitting here for a while. Sam didn’t want George to be in more pain, so once he got up, Sam asked if George was okay with him carrying him. 

He was. Once Sam had a decent hold on him, George immediately hid his face in the crook of Sam’s neck when Sam started to walk away from the village.

George passed out shortly after.

~~

It had been a few years now of living with Sam and George couldn’t have had it any other way. George was grateful that Sam had found him in the dead village. Even if he lost a family, he gained another. 

Sam didn't hide the fact that he was a creeper hybrid from George and he didn’t want to, but George didn’t really care. Not because he _didn’t care_ , but because he already knew that Sam was a kind person at heart. So he wasn’t really surprised when he saw Quackity. He was a small duck hybrid with even smaller wings wrapped around his body, clutching Sam’s hoodie, both soaking wet. Sam looked fine, Quackity looked freezing. Sam didn’t even have to ask George to help with Quackity. 

While Sam was in the kitchen working on making some hot chocolate after he made sure that Quackity wasn’t going to go into shock, George came in with his smallest clothes, a large hoodie from Sam, and enough pillows and blankets in his arms that you could barely see his eyes looking over the mountain of cloth and fluff. 

George would always read about different things in his village, including hybrids. He vaguely remembered that duck hybrids build nests to feel safe. Or something along those lines. It has been a few years since he’s read any of those books. 

Once he made it to the couch where Quackity was sitting with a wet towel wrapped around himself, George dropped all the things he was holding next to Quackity. Quackity seemed startled by George, wings puffing up and flaring. George only silently passed the clothes to Quackity and grabbed the wet towel to put in the hamper in Sam’s room. If he took longer than normal to subconsciously give Quackity more space and time then he wasn’t going to bring that up. 

Once he got back, Quackity had already put on the new clothes and made a makeshift nest. It wasn’t a big one. Pillows propped up on the armrests and floor, multiple blankets covered the couch and were crinkled at the borders of the couch to make some sort of border to the nest. George made sure not to step into the nest without permission. He also vaguely remembered reading that you have to be invited into a nest, so he made sure to not overstep any boundary and break that little amount of unspoken trust that Quackity and George seemed to have. 

George grabbed the wet clothes that were on a pile next to the couch to also put those in the hamper. After that was done, George snuck into the kitchen to see Sam making some soup, hot chocolate in three different mugs on the counter. They were still steaming too. Perfect.

Sam didn’t notice when George stole a mug off the counter nor did he notice George sneaking away to Quackity with said mug. George did kinda feel bad about taking the mug, but he had to get Quackity to try the hot chocolate and not because of the fact that it would warm him up and George was worried about him being cold. Once George got back to Quackity, Quackity was already dozing off. He did see George approach which woke him right up. 

George put his free hand up beside his head while offering the cup of hot chocolate to Quackity. Quackity just looked at him, looking for something that he didn't find in George because instead of taking the cup, he grabbed his wrist and lightly pulled into the nest. George, not expecting to be invited to his nest hesitated, but the hesitation disappeared when Quackity pulled on George's wrist again. 

George stepped in and offered the mug again. This time Quackity took it and sat down to his original position. George sat down next to him. They both sat in silence. By the time that Quackity was done with the hot chocolate, George was already dozing off. It didn't help that the nest that Quackity made was warm and comfortable. After Quackity was done with the hot chocolate, he placed down the cup right outside the nest and attached himself on George’s side, small wings wrapping around them both as much as they could. 

George moved carefully so both of them were propped up on pillows and he wrapped his arms around Quackity, being careful of his wings. He hoped this was okay with Quackity. He was getting really drowsy and was pretty sure that Quackity was feeling the same. Right before he fell asleep he heard a small voice whisper,

“Your eyes are cool.” George smiled, hugged him a little tighter, and fell asleep. And if he swore to himself to always be there for Quackity as much as he could, then that was nobody’s business but his.

~~

“This is all you’re fcking fault, George! If you had been here for the election we would have won!” 

Quackity shoved him back. George let him. He had just walked in on the destruction of L’manburg, blissfully unaware of what was going on. He knew that Quackity was pissed off. He had a right to be. 

“Where the fuck were you, huh?!” 

George didn't answer. He just woke up a few days ago. He only looked at Quackity behind his goggles. 

“Ya no me vas a responder?! Eso es lo que vas hacer ahora?!” Quackity’s wings puffed up. Well, wing. God, what happened to Quackity? His entire right side was covered in burns, bruises, and wounds. The armor that he was wearing seemed to take most of the damage, but his right wing’s feathers were completely gone, leaving only the charred bone and burned skin. Clothes were burned and singed showing off the third and second-degree burns on Quackity’s face, arm, and leg. God, what had happened to his brother? 

“¡Hijo de puta!” Quackity started to speak in rapid Spanish. Geroge closed his eyes expecting a punch. It's not like anyone would be able to see that behind his goggles. He didn't feel anything come. He opened his eyes to see Dream walking towards him, Quackity nowhere to be seen. George stayed in place trying to look for his brother. He couldn't move. He was in shock at all the destruction that was happening around him. There was so much smoke and explosions and colorful fireworks around that he couldn't do anything other than focus on the hand that came to rest on his cheek, grounding him in the moment. He was turned away from the chaos.

“C’mon Georgie.” He heard Dream talking to him like he was talking to a child. “Let's get you to safety.” Dream started to walk from the destruction of L’manburg.

George followed.

~~

George’s emotions didn't feel like they were there. He knew that he should have felt _something_ when Quackity was screaming and yelling at him. He knew it should have hurt. But instead, it felt like he wasn't there. He doesn't know why he shows any type of emotion when it comes to Dream. 

Dream was the one to comfort him after his fallout with Quackity. He was the one to tell him that he made a great discovery when he told him about the Lethargy Potion. That he did a good thing. That it didn't matter if he slept through a few months. That they didn't understand. That he didn't need his brother. That he could just live in his house in peace. That Dream could keep him safe. 

George believed him. 

The title of ‘King of the Dream SMP’ came into the conversation. Dream promised that people wouldn’t mess with George if he had the crown. He knew that people weren’t dumb enough to mess with the boyfriend of the most powerful guy on the server. Dream promised that he could live in his house as long as he wanted with the title of King under one condition. That George would stay neutral. George agreed.

Eret was dethroned the next day. 

George was crowned King with Callahan and Captain Puffy appointed by Dream as Royal Guards to make sure he stayed safe. George didn't have any problem with his royal duties. He didn't have a problem with Dream keeping everything in check. It was his kingdom after all. He didn't have a problem with Dream when he had provided comfort when his house was burned to the ground by Tommy. He didn't have a problem with Dream when he immediately went to the extreme punishment for Tommy. 

He didn't have a problem.

He did have a problem with Dream when he had dethroned him. He was just starting to make amends with Quackity. George was just helping him. Dream never said anything about talking to other people from any other faction. Yeah, maybe the politics conversation would be had in the passing, but it wasn't anything serious. George knew that Quackity was as sharp and smart as a blade when he needed to. He knew that Quackity could play a game if he wanted to.

What he didn't know about Quackity was that the arrow struck in his side was shot by Dream. He didn't know that Dream was willing to kill his little brother had it not been for the fact that Quackity was fast enough to run all the way to the Holy Lands with Sapnap and Karl. He didn't know that Quackity had been defending George when Dream had called him a tyrant and a baby. He didn't know about Dream’s outburst of not giving a fuck. He had to hear about all of this through Quackity. 

“George.” George was currently packing a backpack with essentials in his old room in the castle. He wasn't going to deal with this right now. 

“George.” _He wasn't going to deal with this right now._ He just wanted to get his stuff and leave. 

“George!” He slammed his bag down on the table and turned around. “What! Quackity! What do you need!?”

“What I need is for you to listen!” George was not having it. He just wanted to leave. He took a deep breath and turned back around to grab a few shirts. 

“What do you need me to listen to Quackity? Did you come to try to talk me out of leaving? Did you want me to listen to you try to convince me into staying? You aren't going to change my mind on this, so if that's what you want me to hear then you can leave.”

George turned around to see Quackity looking at him like he didn't know who he was talking to. Holding his goggles. “Dammit, Quackity.”

He held up his goggles. “You are going to listen to me and then I am going to give these back to you. I know you won't leave without these. So sit your ass down and listen to me for two fcking minutes.” Red and blue eyes met brown ones. Quackity’s wings were puffed up to make him seem bigger than he actually is. He wasn’t backing down and neither was George, but he had his goggles. George let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding and sat down on the bed. 

Quackity put the hand holding his goggles at his side but his wings didn't unpuff. “Good. Because I want you to know that I'm worried about you.”

That caught George off-guard. “What?”

“Yeah! You dumbass! I've been worried about you since you disappeared off the face of the fcking planet! Do you remember when that was?!”

George knew exactly when that was. He didn't say anything. He was going to let Quackity say what he needed to say before he left. 

“It was the election! You said that you were going to be there as my running mate and then you didn't show up! You didn't even send me a notice! Did you know how many times I called! Sam was worried for you! He didn’t know where the hell you were and I couldn’t give him an answer because I didn't know either! Jesus George, I thought you fcking died!”

George had already heard this from Quackity. He should probably give him a reason on why he wasn't there, but Dream convinced him to keep it a secret. That his discovery was his to keep. 

“And then you show up in the middle of a fcking war! You-” Quackity was so mad that it looked like he had tears in his eyes. “You looked at everything that was happening and you didn't even fcking react! You didn't do anything! You just stood there and let yourself be dragged away by Dream of all people!” Now that got George quietly pissed off.

“You get dragged away by your toxic boyfriend-”

“Stop.”

“No! George! I'm not going to because you aren't going to leave here without hearing this!”

George got up and put on his backpack. “My goggles.”

Quackity took a deep breath. “No, because you are going to stay here and let me fcking finish.”

“I'm not actually. My goggles Quackity.” He was done listening to Quackity talk shit about his boyfriend. It wasn't like Quackity’s old relationship wasn't great as well, but he didn't voice that. Quackity put the hand holding George’s goggles behind his back. 

“What don't you want to hear? The truth? You don't want to hear about how Dream has been manipulating you since the election-”

“Stop.”

“What? You don't want to hear about all the shit he said about you while you ran from El Rapids? Oh sorry, Mexican L’manburg at the time.”

George doesn't know why that hurt so much. “He wouldn’t do that.”

Quackity kept going. “You don't believe me? Ask Sapnap and Karl.”

George was going through so many emotions at the moment that he just decided to settle for anger. Anger at this conversation, anger that he knows Quackity is right, anger at himself for letting this happen. God, he just wanted his goggles so he could _leave._

“They do not count. They are biased because you're dating them. They would have helped you regardless.”

Quackity looked at him more desperately. “He said that he didn’t give a fuck about anything George! That the only thing he cared about were Tommy’s discs!”

George snapped. He was so pissed off at this point that he didn't know what to do with himself. He wondered briefly if this is how Sapnap felt when he got mad, the thought was funny to him. George let his anger burn for once. He was just sad that it was directed at the person he swore to himself that he would stay with, no matter what. 

“Enough Quackity!”

Quackity closed his mouth. George hasn’t yelled at him before. Not like this at least. 

“If you want to go and analyze a bad relationship, go analyze your last one! Oh, you think I don't know how you stayed and almost married a tyrant for a public image? How about you go and analyze your own fcking mess of an old abusive relationship and stop sticking your head into mine! Because guess what, Quackity? I don't care right now! Is that what you want to hear? I. Don't. Care. And I'm not going to care that I will walk out of this server and not look back, okay? I'm not going to care when I am far from this place. So, you are either going to give me my goggles or I am going to take my goggles.”

Quackity just looked at George like a stranger. George didn't wait for Quackity to do anything, instead, George forcefully turned him around, grabbed the goggles, and put them on while walking out of the room. He walked all the way out of the castle and didn’t stop walking until the server was just a speck in the distance. 

~~

Sapnap had contacted him. 

George had been staying with a village Cleric who was kind enough to provide shelter. George had enough emeralds to stay for a few weeks and even longer if he helped the Cleric. George has no problem speaking the language of villagers, so communication wasn't an issue. The Cleric had been nice enough to find him in the library when his communicator was going off. 

_‘Traveller.’_

George had looked up from his book. _‘Yes?’_

The Cleric had walked over and put his communicator in front of him. George just stared at the Cleric. _‘It kept buzzing.’_ After that, the Cleric left. George sighed, put down his book, and picked up his communicator. 

**< Sapnap> Get back. Now.**

**< GeorgeNotFound> No. Stop contacting me. **

**< Sapnap> You need to be here for this. **

**< GeorgeNotFound> George. This is Quackity. Echo, Echo, Echo.**

George packed everything he had and left by sundown. 

~~

The situation was told to him by Punz. He had been paid by Tommy to help him take down Dream. He said that Dream never paid him as much as Tommy did, so he’s doing his job. George doesn't know why he needs to be here for this. 

Everyone is here. Even the people who he doesn't talk to. He’s pretty sure that half the people here don't like Tommy at all. He doesn't really find a reason on why they need to take down Dream. He’s been trying to do what's best for this server. He doesn't say anything on the subject.

He doesn’t say anything when Quackity avoids him like the plague. He doesn't say anything when Sapnap tries to catch his eye. He stopped trying after a few minutes. Callahan is the only one to get a reaction out of him. George moved to the back of the group. 

Soon enough, everyone passes through the portal. Nausea created by the portal threatens to make him vomit, but he pushes the urge down to silently watch the scene in front of him. Even though he is in the back of the group. Everyone is spread out so he has a clear view of Sapnap holding the blade of an ax to Dream’s throat. George’s first instinct is to defend or protect him. He stays where he is. 

He sees Sam check over Tommy to make sure he’s okay. He sees Quackity step in front of Tubbo with a netherite sword out in a defensive position, wings puffed out. Huh. George didn't realize how much Quackity cared for Tubbo. He thinks it's because of the election, but he doesn't think about it much. He sees Tommy step from the crowd and makes Dream drop all of his stuff in the middle of a hallway. He can see a cow and a blue sheep. He sees signs with pedestals and.. Is that a cage?

A small explosion happens. All of Dream’s stuff is gone. He sees Dream get killed twice, back to back. He is almost killed a final time when he says that he can bring people back from the dead. George doesn’t believe him for once. He sees Dream spared and trapped in a temporary obsidian prison. He walks around the hallway and sees that all the signs have the names of everyone on the server. He doesn't see his name. 

_He doesn't see his name._

He walks out of the hallway feeling sick. He feels disgusting. Why is the one that doesn’t have anything? Why isn't he here to suffer along with his friends? His family. The blackstone that surrounds him makes him feel like he’s passing out. He sees light, but it becomes blurry if he looks at it for too long. He starts to walk to the portal when a hand grabs his wrist. He didn't even realize he passed by Dream. 

“Hey, Georgie.” He was talking slowly, like he was explaining something to a child. George hated it when he talked to him like that. George looked at Dream. His mask cracked, pieces of it were missing. George could see his too-sweet smile and faux sad eyes. “I missed you. Have you been safe?” George didn’t respond. He was too busy screaming at himself to move, God why won't he _move?_

“Did they drag you back here? I heard you left, I have a place for you outside the SMP if you want me to show you.” What? 

“But you gotta help me out here Georgie. Can you do that for me?” 

George didn't know what was happening. The entire reason why he was dragged back here was to put a stop to Dream. Now Dream was asking George for his help? 

“Why me? Why not Punz?” George just wanted to leave. He didn't want to be having any conversation with anyone. He still hasn't figured out why Dream is the one to pull any words or major reactions from George. He tried to take his wrist back, but Dream just gripped tighter, borderline bruising. 

“Aww, c’mon Georgie-”

“Let go.”

Dream ignored him. “You don't want to at least try to repay me after everything I’ve done for you?” George could leave if Dream just _let go._

“I could keep you safe like I've always done for you, but you gotta help me out here this one time, okay? Can you do that for me, Georgie?” George didn't have a chance to answer when he was pulled back by an unknown person. He panics silently. He doesn't want to be touched right now, but he doesn't say anything. He sees Punz, Sapnap, and Sam escort Dream up to the elevator. Dream catches George’s eye with a sweetness that's familiar. 

George walks through the portal holding his bruised wrist to his chest.

~~

George had left with Quackity, Karl, and Sapnap to make their own place to stay that wasn't anywhere near the Dream SMP. Quackity had followed George out of the portal to ask him if he wanted to come. George agreed. All four of them were ready to leave by the next week. 

All of them have built their own place. Quackity, Karl, and Sapnap made their own house big enough so all three of them could live together. George wanted to live alone. He made his house nearby so it was only a ten-minute walk from the trio’s house. George’s house wasn't large, but it was small enough for it to feel cozy. It was the standard three-bedroom, two-bathroom, regular kitchen, dining room, and living room with a fireplace. 

Two weeks had passed when he finished his house. Another half week passed when he finished decorating his house. Another week passed when he finally considered it his home. When he considered the Kinoko Kingdom was his home. George had been slowly becoming responsive to the trio. When Quackity managed to make him smile with some stupid jokes he was making, Sapnap told him the next day that he cried because that was the first time he reacted to anything Quackity had said since they’ve been here. 

It was almost a full month of peace when his communicator buzzed. 

**< Dream> Hey Georgie! Could you help me out here please?**

Geroge could hear the condescending tone in the message. Just when he thought that the peace could last. 

~~ 

George was standing next to the wall where he knew Dream’s cell was with Callahan. He was holding a diamond pickaxe in front of the wall while Callahan was keeping watch to make sure not to get caught. This was George’s first time ever seeing the prison up close. It radiated intimidation. He could tell that this was some of Sam’s best work. 

Dream’s voice came from the communicator. _“Are you where you're supposed to be George?”_ He felt sick. “Yeah. I’m gonna get you out.”

George started to mine. He felt slower than usual. He remembered hearing something about Guardians in the walls of the prison. He doesn't know how Sam managed to do that. He kept mining. 

George had always admired the builds that Sam would make. The sheer amounts of sleepless nights he would use to finish a build to make sure it was flawless. He remembered always falling asleep to the background noises of sawing and the smell of redstone. He didn't realize that he mined half a block until he heard Dream. 

_“George! You’re doing it! You’re almost done!”_

George didn’t respond. 

_“Just break me out! How long does it take to break one block!?”_

George kept mining. “Just leave me alone, we’re breaking you out! Me and Callahan are breaking you out!”

_“Yeah! You and Callahan together! One block at a time, one block at a time!”_

He mined through the Blackstone. There was so much obsidian. What was he expecting? He should have known by now that when Sam builds something, he goes all out. He’s not going to be able to break him out. He stopped mining.

_“George, you’re almost through, just keep mining!”_

Callahan gripped George’s shoulder. He grabbed the communicator from George’s pocket, ignored Dream’s demands to know what was happening, and hung up. He felt the communicator buzz immediately in his hand. 

George dropped the pickaxe. There wasn’t any point in trying to mine. He should have known that the prison wouldn't be able to be broken into. It was inescapable. He didn't need anyone to tell him that. He had lived with Sam long enough to know when his builds and inventions would only be understood by the man himself. Sam probably knew every nook and cranny in this place. He probably had security measures for every type of situation regarding the prison. 

Dream was smart. Dream was there when it was being built. He wouldn’t have asked George for help if he couldn’t get out. Dream commissioned Sam for this building to be inescapable. So the prison couldn’t be broken into. 

He knew that they would have been caught. The buzzing from his communicator didn't stop. George grabbed the communicator from Callahan’s hand and threw it at the wall with full force, shattering it instantly. He didn't bother picking up the pieces of his communicator when Callahan grabbed his hand and ran. 

George heard running footsteps and flaming arrows fly past him and Callahan. George didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Instead, he told Callahan to split off and hide in the Holy Lands. That he would lead Sam away. Callahan begrudgingly agreed. 

George was so grateful in that moment for the amount of Manhunt games played with Dream and training with Sapnap because he lost Sam in under two minutes. 

~~

George didn’t know how he got home. Home? Home used to be a person. It used to be Dream. 

_It used to be Dream._

Dream. The person who would sneak into Sam’s base to give him chocolates with the risk of a mad creeper hybrid. Dream. The person who would text and call him all night if they couldn't sleep. Dream. The person who would comfort him and vise versa if they were ever down that day. Dream. The person he loved even when he didn’t stay loyal.

Dream. The person who instigated every problem on the server in the name of making it better. Dream. The person who would cut off any ties with the people who cared for him at the drop of a dime. Dream. The person who kept him tied around more strings than he let himself acknowledge. Dream. The person who turned a Pawn into a Queen to play in a chessboard game that he didn’t know he was playing.

Dream. The person who never cared about anything but himself.

Dream. The person he hates.

And for the first time in months, he let himself feel. 

There were so many emotions coming at him all at once that he didn't know what to do with himself. He felt used, dejected, disgusted, angry, hurt, scared, broken, defeated, _livid._

He grabbed the first thing in his reach when he stepped inside his house, which was a small glass mushroom the size of his hand, and threw it at the wall. The shattering sound coupled with the dent created in the wall gave him some sort of satisfaction. A sick sense of relief followed. He balled his hands into fists, not liking the neat decor of his house at the moment, and everything else passed by in a blur. 

~~

Quackity felt off. He was trying to contact George to see if he was doing alright. He already knew that answer that he was going to receive, but he’d be damned if he didn’t at least try to get a different response. 

He knew that George hadn't been doing well for a while. What kind of brother would he be if he didn’t notice? He had tried to get through to George a few times but stopped trying majorly after his outburst at him. He sounded too much like Dream in that moment that he couldn’t do anything else but watch him leave. Eret had to ask Quackity to leave the castle. 

When Quackity sends him his daily ask of ‘How are you,’ He always gets a response immediately. George told him that he didn’t want to forget to respond later. So it felt off when ten minutes had passed and there was still no response. He wasn’t worried. Okay, that's a lie, he was worried. Of course, he was worried. He knew that George could defend himself, but he didn’t want him to be doing anything stupid either. He knew that Dream had said something to him the day he was but into prison. Even if he doesn’t know what he said, he’s gonna try to make sure that his brother could function. 

When his communicator buzzed, he wasn't even mad when he heard complaints of Karl being woken up hastily from his nap. He gave him a kiss as an apology and moved to the front porch of their house. The fresh air calmed his nerves the tiniest bit. It didn't last long when he opened his communicator. 

**< AweSamDude> You need to find your brother. Tell me when you do. **

Oh no.

**< QuackityHQ> Why?**

**< AweSamDude> He tried to break Dream out of prison with Callahan. Find your brother. Now.**

_Oh no._

Quackity dropped his communicator to sprint and glide as fast as he could to George's house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Depictions of Panic Attacks and Derealization  
> All characters written in this story are about the personas that they portray on the Dream SMP  
> Other than that, Enjoy!

When Quackity got in front of the house, he immediately knew that something was off. George didn't really have a porch. He had a small cobblestone path that leads up to his house that is partially hidden by tall grass. On the front of the house where the porch would be, is a border of stones holding in soil with a variety of different flowers and mushrooms. 

Some flowers have been stepped on. Okay, not ideal. The oak door is almost off its hinges, barely upright. The windows have been broken and cracked. One looks like it's been punched. If Quackity looks closely, he can see some blood on the window from where it's been punched. 

Quackity walks into the house. He doesn't bother to knock. 

The first thing he notices is the sheer amount of glass everywhere. He is so glad that he at least thought to put on some shoes because leaving the house. The living room to the left of the door looks  _ trashed _ . The coffee table was flipped over and the window that looked like it was punched, definitely has blood on it. The fire poker stand is missing 3 fire pokers. One is poking out of the wall, one is embedded into the brick of the fireplace, and the third one is missing. If he looks closer, he can see something in the fireplace. It looks like a book. It's mostly burned though.

He hears a crash from where he assumes the kitchen is. He doesn't remember the last time he walked into George’s house. He didn't really like it when any of them just came unannounced, so they respected that and didn't. Quackity thinks that doesn't apply here. 

He goes to the kitchen, passes by a hallway that has a mirror hung up on the wall. Well, had. There is glass on the floor and the mirror is turned over. He’s pretty sure he can see blood on some pieces. He finds a trail of blood drops leading to the kitchen. He follows the trail. And he wants to cry. 

He sees cabinets, drawers, and even more glass everywhere. Some drawers are broken too. The sink has a fire in it burning with what he thinks are hoodies and hats. If he looks closer he can see a melted-down crown with discarded gems. George’s goggles are on the far end of the kitchen. And George..

George is showing the most emotion that Quackity has seen in months. George is standing in front of a brewing stand, currently putting some phantom membranes in the port of the stand. He’s pretty sure that the bottles that are in the slots of the stand are slowness potions. He’s looking at the stand with what feels like resigned anger. He doesn't acknowledge Quackity when he calls out to him.

“George?”

~~

George is pretty sure that he’s having some sort of attack right now. He can't name what specifically, but some sort of attack. Everything that he was holding back for these few months was coming back so fast that his emotional reflex was to put back the walls of apatheticness that he felt safe in. He couldn’t stop himself from putting back the walls even if he wanted to. He was alone at the moment, so no one could really stop him anyway. 

He doesn't really feel himself trash his house. That might be some sort of disassociation, but he's not really sure. He’s not sure about a lot of things right now. What he is sure about is Dream not caring about anyone. Him included. He’s mad that he didn't notice it sooner. He tries to pinpoint the moment where it all went wrong, but he only ends up with a headache that doesn't help his anger. 

George’s knuckles have blood on them. He ignores it. Hearing the shattering of glass accompanied by the pain he felt afterward helped him ground himself in the moment. 

He tries to pinpoint the moment it went wrong for him again. Tries to pinpoint when he started to just not let himself feel for months on end. When he ignored everything and everyone with the exception of the one person that now makes him feel sick. 

He thinks of whispered praises and soft nothings and manipulation disguised as sickly sweet words when he was led back to his hobbit house. After Quackity had blamed him for not winning the election. George couldn't blame him. He thinks of potion stands and deep sleeps with even deeper words that cut like a knife. Well, he has a start at least.

He doesn’t need the book of notes he wrote down. He wouldn’t have burned it if he needed it. He grabs a brewing stand, a bag of blaze powder, phantom membranes, and a few slowness potions from his room (that he punched a few dents and holes in) and brings everything to the kitchen island. The fire he lit in the sink looks like it’s dying so he goes back to his room and grabs a few oversized yellow hoodies that he knows don’t belong to him and a crown that he didn't want in the first place. 

He brings the item to the fire in the kitchen and watches them burn. The hoodies catch on fire fairly quickly, rekindling the fire back to its original state. Alive and burning bright. He places the crown in the fire on top of the burning hoodies as well. He feels his hands get burned from the fire but doesn't really care enough to react. He gets everything ready and starts setting everything up. He’s putting the phantom membranes in the item port when he hears Quackity. 

“George?” He sounds worried. 

“What have I told you about coming to my house unannounced?” George blinks and looks at Quackity. He’s standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He’s looking at George with careful confusion. He doesn't know what’s happening. And honestly, neither does George. 

“You weren't texting me back.”

Right. His communicator. George looks back at the brewing stand. 

“I broke my communicator.”

Quackity moved to the other side of the kitchen island slowly. Like he was approaching a wild animal. George very effectively gets pissed off, but doesn't say anything or move from his spot. He just watches the potions so they don't boil over or burn. George can sense that Quackity wants to say something, but he doesn't get the chance to because George speaks up. 

“Slowness potions and phantom membranes.” He sees Quackity blink. 

“Huh?”

George chuckles and looks at Quackity again with tired eyes. “Slowness potions and phantom membranes. They make something that I called a Lethargy Potion.” He grabbed a potion bottle, not waiting for it to cool down. Quackity got tense but didn’t say anything. “Do you know what the potion does, Quackity?” Quackity hesitantly shook his head. 

“If you drink enough of it, you can sleep for weeks on end.” In reality, George doesn't know if that fact is true. He can vaguely remember waking up and Dream getting him a glass of.. something, but he didn’t question it at the time. He went back to bed. He wonders if Dream planned that ahead of time. George thinks he did. 

He hears Quackity timidly ask, “How do you know this?”

George doesn't say anything. He looks down at the brewing stand, grabs the other two bottles, and holds all three in one hand. Quackity gets even tenser because he knows that they haven’t cooled down either. He pushes the brewing stand in the sink with his free hand, grabs the fire poker propped up next to him, and walks to the living room, still holding the Lethargy potions. He sees Quackity follow him, but keeps his distance. Good.

George places down two of the Lethargy bottles and holds one in his hand. He throws it up in the air and swings the fire poker like a baseball bat. The fire poker meets its target. Muddy purple liquid and glass splatters everywhere. It stains his clothes and dries on his skin, making it feel like sticky syrup. He picks up another potion.

“George?”

He hits the potion again. Little shards of glass cut into his face and fall on the floor. 

“George.”

He hits the last potion. He ignores Quackity as he walks to the hallway to make another brewing stand. A hand on his chest stops him. Worried eyes meet broken ones. They stare. No one moves or says anything for a while. 

“Are you there?” 

It's a simple question that George should be able to answer. But how does he answer that to his brother? The one person who knows him better than he should and can read him like a book? 

George doesn’t answer. Instead, he laughs. He puts a hand to his mouth to try to stop himself, but he can’t help but laugh. George hasn’t felt ‘there’ for months. His shoulders shake with laughter and he laughs for so long that tears come to his eyes. He thinks he looks crazy to Quackity, who has been trying to analyze him the entire time with a mostly neutral face. 

Soon, the shoulders that were shaking with laughter are shaking with sobs. The hand that isn’t trying to stifle the sounds grips to Quackity’s hand that hasn’t left his chest like a lifeline. Quackity turns his hand to return the gesture. 

Quackity’s other hand softly,  _ too softly, _ comes up to his face and carefully takes his hand off his mouth to hold. George starts to shake his head in a desperate attempt to keep some semblance of dignity. He can’t look Quackity in the eye. The tears haven’t stopped. Neither do the too fast breaths because God, he  _ can’t breathe. _

Quackity lets go of the hand that was near his face and wraps an arm around his shoulders, still holding the other hand to his chest. He doesn’t make any move to let that one go. Neither does George. 

George doesn’t feel like he can stand anymore so he hides in his face in the crook of Quackity’s neck and leans into him. Quackity seems to get the message and sets them both down on the floor, right on top of the glass. Quackity isn’t worried about the glass right now. He can fix the wounds later. Quackity’s only concern is being here for his brother right now. 

Quackity doesn’t know what to do for George other than just being here in the moment with him. To make sure he breathes. He takes over-exaggerated breaths so George can follow along. 

Quackity was going to make sure that he’s gonna be  _ okay. _ He was going to make sure that he stays with him through this, to try to return some of the comforts that George has given him through the years. He rubs the hand that’s hugging him in a slow comforting circle on his back.

“Just let it out, George.”

And he does. George lets out the most anguished and broken scream that Quackity is eternally grateful that George is hiding his head in the crook of his neck because he isn’t able to stop the stray tears from running down his face hearing his brother so defeated. He hears George scream and scream until his voice is too hoarse to do anything but silently sob. He sobs and sobs on Quackity until he has no more tears left to cry and passes out. 

Quackity only moves to wrap his wings around the both of them, giving them some type of warmth, runs a hand through his hair, and doesn’t move for the rest of the day and night.

He doesn’t let go of his hand.

~~

George wakes up slowly. 

His mind feels hazy and he doesn't open his eyes. He doesn't think about much and tries to pinpoint small things. He feels warm. Warm. Okay, he can do that. He feels something like a warm, downy soft blanket and an even warmer mass pressed against him. He feels a hand methodically run through his hair. He leans into it. He feels that he is laying on the hard floor. It’s cold. He doesn't like that much. He presses even closer to the mass to try to avoid the cold floor as much as he can and falls asleep again. 

~~

When George wakes up again, he feels more coherent. He can pay attention to more things. He still feels warm, but now he can feel how much his body hurts. He can feel cuts and bruises on his hands and feet and can feel the familiar feeling of dried blood on his skin. He can feel how much his throat hurts. He can't remember why for a moment. 

He wishes it stayed that way. 

He remembers not being in commission for a few days when Sam had first found him and took him in. He remembers asking Sam to tell him what happened those few days a few months into living with him. Sam had told him that he was basically dissociating for those few days, that he was processing in his own way. He doesn’t remember those few days. That might have been the disassociation. 

He opens his eyes. He has a face full of golden feathers. He immediately knows that those are Quackity’s. George can see small scars on his wings, not noticeable from a normal distance, but clearly visible this close. George wants to try to prolong the inevitable disassociation as long as he can so he starts asking questions about Quackity. Well, tries to.

“How’d-“

Quackity jumps, not expecting George to say anything. “ _ Mierda. _ ” George coughs. His throat really hurts. His sentence comes out as a hoarse whisper because of how raspy his voice is.

“How’d you get the scars on your wings?”

He feels Quackity take a deep breath. “I don't think you should be talking right now.”

George tries a different question, completely ignoring Quackity’s sentence. “What happened?” His voice feels like it's being put through a grater. George coughs again. 

He feels Quackity take another deep breath. “You want to hear this now? Or you want to wait until we get to Sam’s?” George doesn't really react. His mind is feeling hazy again. He curls up more into Quackity, trying to make himself as small as possible as hides in the crook of Quackity's neck again. “Dad’s already mad at me. We can't go to Dad right now.” 

Quackity stops moving. George never calls Sam ‘Dad’. Not unless he’s really out of it. He remembers George calling Sam ‘Dad’ when he had a high fever that just wasn't breaking. He remembers George being so delirious and loopy that he would just constantly call Sam ‘Dad’. The three of them didn’t bring it up when George got better. 

“Yeah George,” Quackity runs a hand through his hair. “We’re going to Dad’s.”

~~

After George and Quackity got up from the floor, Quackity managed to get George on his back, being careful of his wings. Once Quackity knew that George wasn't going to fall off of him, he covered George with his taken-off hoodie. Technically it was Sapnap’s, but it was big enough to shield his eyes from the sun and fight off the morning chill. 

The first stop was the kitchen. It didn't take long for Quackity to find George’s goggles, but it took longer than it should have because he was looking in the sink where the fire was. He could see bright green fabric under a ton of melted gold with random gems embedded in it. He didn't stare at it too long. 

Quackity grabbed George's goggles from the end of the kitchen and started to walk to his house to grab his communicator. The walk wasn't long, Quackity was moving a little bit slower due to George being on right back, but it didn't hinder too much. He had managed to walk up the porch stairs of his house without falling over, so he considered that a win. Actually, the fact that he was able to carry George, in general, should have been a red flag. Quackity has to make sure he eats. He knows Sam is also gonna make sure he eats, so he wasn't too worried about that.

He is so glad in that moment that Karl and Sapnap forget to lock doors because he didn't want to knock and wake up George, who had fallen asleep halfway through the walk. Quackity walked into the house and immediately went to the couch, trying to wake up George. “George?”

George grumbled. He did not want to wake up. He was too warm for waking up. 

“George?”

George sighed. “‘M up, ‘m up.” He tried to see where he was from the hood. The flooring wasn’t the same. “This isn’t Dad’s place.” He lifted his head and put it down again. “‘S bright.”

Quackity chuckled. “Yeah I know, but I gotta take you out of your darkness bubble. We still gotta take care of your cuts before we go to Dad’s. Imma put you on the couch and then I'm gonna get Karl and Sap to help you out while I get some stuff ready. Okay?” 

Quackity felt George nod and loosen his grip on Quackity. He was quick to move to the couch and make sure that George was okay. George waved him off, put up the hood over his face, and got comfortable on the couch. Once Quackity made sure that he was okay, he went upstairs to find Karl and Sap. 

He opened the door to their room and saw Karl pacing while Sapnap was staring off into space. They both turned to Quackity and faces of relief came across their faces. Karl almost knocked Quackity over with how hard he went to hug him. Quackity could barely catch full sentences with how fast he was talking. 

“Oh my God Q! You’ve been missing for an entire day! You left your communicator just lying on the ground in front of the house! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Jeez, don't scare us like that nimrod!” Quackity wrapped his arms around Karl and started to apologize. He looked over the Sap, who noticed that Quackity didn't have any injuries and was okay. Sap walked over to Quackity and Karl to join in the hug. 

Quackity gave a few kisses and then started explaining the situation. “Amores?” They both went out of the hug to look at him. “So, before anything, George is downstairs with a bunch of cuts, bruises, and burns-” Sap left to go downstairs. “Alright, Karl, I'm gonna be gone for a few days with George. We’ll be staying at Sam’s for these few days. I was hoping if you could help Sap with George while I go and pack a few things, please? I promise that I’ll explain everything when we get back.” Karl didn’t need an explanation from Quackity. He just gave him a kiss and said, “Make sure you take your communicator nimrod.” Karl went downstairs. 

Quackity took a deep breath and started to walk to his room, mentally planning out what he needed to pack. 

~~

Sapnap walked down the stairs to see George sleeping on the couch. At first, he didn't see anything because George was wearing his oversized panda hoodie. Sapnap remembered giving it to Quackity so he must have passed it on to George. When he got closer to the couch he could see that he was barefoot and there was blood on the hoodie. Sapnap swallowed and gently shook George awake. 

“George? C’mon dude you gotta get up.” George looked up from the hoodie and had a distant look in his eyes. “C’mon,” He moved so he could hold George up bridal style and started to walk to the bathroom. Once they arrived at the bathroom, Sapnap put him to sit on the sink and started to get the first aid that was in a small cabinet. George stayed where he was and didn't move. His eyes were still distant. 

“You remember that time where we almost got arrested?”

A small smile came across George’s face. “Yeah.” Wow, his voice sounded dead. “We kept trying to see who could jump-” George coughed. “Jump from rooftop to rooftop the quickest.” 

Sapnap returned the smile with some supplies. “I didn't understand a single word that was being said in the village. Hands.”

George showed his hands. He had a few burns on his palms and fingers.  _ “You still don't understand this.” _ Sapnap just looked at him and grabbed the burn cream infused with healing potions. “ Δύο μπορούν να παίξουν αυτό το παιχνίδι σκύλα.” Sapnap gave a cheeky grin. George rolled his eyes and hissed. 

“Sorry ‘bout that, but it'll heal faster this way.”

Karl appeared in the doorway and turned to George. “You want anything to eat? We have some food I can heat up if you want?” George blinked a few times and turned to Karl. “Please.” George coughed again. Karl looked worried. “I don't think you should be talking, you sound like a dying animal.” Karl smiled playfully. George rolled his eyes and nodded. 

“Wait, Karl?” Karl turned to Sapnap. “Can you get a bowl of ice too please?” Karl looked confused, but nodded and left to go get the food and ice. George looked at Sapnap with a neutral expression. He made a motion of writing and Sapnap left to go get a book and pen. He got back to George gripping the end of the sink with the distant look in his eyes again. 

Sapnap gave him the book and George started to write. ‘I don't need the ice.’ Sapnap looked at him and grabbed a wet towel. “You do actually. And before you try to deflect, I know enough about you to know that you are on the verge of dissociating to the next planet. You didn't even feel me pour a healing potion over your feet.” George looked at his feet and sure enough, they were healing and clean of blood. Sapnap went to put the wet towel on his face to wipe off the blood there. 

George started writing. ‘I'm fine.’

Sapnap looked at him. “You’re not.” George blinked a few times. He looked distant again. “George?” Sapnap grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Do you know where you are?” Georg didn't get to respond. Karl walked in with a plate of steaming rice, chicken with sauce, and some salad with vinaigrette in one hand and in the other held the bowl of ice. Sapnap grabbed an ice cube and put it in George’s hand. He flinched. Okay, good. He’s still processing outside stimuli. 

“Hey, George?” He looked at Sapnap. “You think you can eat?” George nodded after a few seconds. Karl gave George the plate of food and sat down next to him. “Do you want anything to drink?” George shook his head. Karl reached into his pocket and gave him some utensils. “For you Mr. Mushroom.” George smiled at the funny voice and nickname that Karl had given him when they arrived at the Kinoko Kingdom. He had found him collecting different mushrooms for his house. He started to eat when Karl and Sapnap started to talk about anything. Sapnap eventually moved to the other side of George. 

They were both warm. It kept him grounded. He ate his food in silence with a content smile.

~~

By this point, Quackity has packed everything that they would need to walk back to the SMP. He had texted Sam to let him know that they were going to be on their way soon. Quackity had told Sam about what was happening and asked him what was going on. He didn't get an answer to his question, only a message saying to meet up at Ponk’s tower. 

He realized that he still had Georges's goggles so he grabbed the backpack and started to walk down the stairs. He heard Karl and Sapnap talking about whether they should make a hangout spot for the four of them. They seemed to be in collective agreement and started to talk about what to put there. He could also hear small intervals where they would stay silent for a few seconds and then agree and build on the sentence. He walked into the bathroom doorway to see all of them sitting on the sink counter. George was writing into a book, a plate on the floor and with Karl’s hoodie. Sapnap’s hoodie folded in his lap. 

Karl spoke up. “I think I can get the materials for those!”

Sapnap gave him a confused look. “Really?” George gave him the same look.

“Yeah! I think Niki knows how to make some, she could give me the recipe!” 

George noticed Quackity with a backpack and his goggles in his hand. He held out his hand for his goggles. Once the goggles were in his hand, he had put it on. He looked calmer. Quackity also gave him a pair of socks and shoes. 

“C’mon, you aren’t walking barefoot.” George rolled his eyes and got up from the sink a little too fast. He felt dizzy, but it passed quickly before any of the trio could comment on it. He grabbed the shoes and waved to Sapnap and Karl. They waved back with Karl calling out, “Don't forget to drink something for your throat!” George waved him off and walked out the front door of the house.

~~

Quackity watched him walk out the door and checked through the window to see if George left. He didn't, he was sitting outside on the porch stairs, socks and shoes already put on. He seemed to be looking at nothing. Quackity didn't know what was happening with George. He didn't think it would be a good time to ask. He went back to Karl and Sapnap to say goodbye.

“Alright guys, I'm gonna be leaving now, but-” He gave both of them a kiss. “-Didn't want to leave without doing that.” He gave a smile when Karl blushed and hid his face in his hands. Sapnap looked equally flustered but didn't try to hide it. Quackity smiled. “Text me if you guys need anything.” 

Sapnap started to look worried. “Can you text us how he is later?” Quackity keeps forgetting the fact that Sapnap and George have known each other for years. Quackity gives him a nod and Karl waves when he walks out the door. 

Karl turns to Sapnap when he hears the door close. “Is George okay?”

Sapnap looked at the door and looked back at Karl. “Yeah.” He thought about the time where he stayed with George for a few days on a trip. How George was unresponsive for those few days. He never asked what happened, but assured him that he was okay. That it might happen again. How he promised that he would stay with George if he wants or needs.

He thinks about how Quackity is doing his best to help George, even if he doesn't know what’s happening. He thinks that George will be okay, but he needs time. He gives Karl a reassuring smile. “He will be.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Depictions of Panic Attacks and Derealization  
> All characters written in this story are about the personas that they portray on the Dream SMP  
> Other than that, Enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

Quackity was currently holding an entire conversation with George. Even though George couldn’t respond, he was still trying his best to listen to Quackity talk about something random. He doesn't really know what the topic is about. Well, he did, but it slipped his mind a few chunks back. 

He didn’t know where Quackity was taking him, but before he knew it they were in the SMP. They started to walk down the Prime Path. George noticed these weird red vines around.. everywhere. He didn't remember these here the last time he walked down the Prime Path. He chose to ignore it and focus on Quackity who was trying to get his attention.

“-orge. George?” Quackity looked worried but tried to give him a smile. “We’re almost there.” George gave a nod. Quackity started to walk towards Ponk’s Tower. George was going to follow when he was pulled by Quackity. He was holding his hand. George didn’t notice. 

His goggles were still on his face, so no one could see his eyes. He doubted that people could see through his goggles through the blinding light of the sun. George could see clearly. He could see Sam walking out of the entrance of Ponk’s Tower. And started to walk towards them. George couldn’t do this. He let go of Quackity's hand and stayed where he was. He saw Sam talk to Quackity briefly and start to walk over to him. 

George didn’t know when he started shaking. He didn't know when he was being hugged. It felt like he was blinking in and out of existence and he couldn't do anything to stop it. The arms wrapped around him felt warm. It felt familiar. He could smell the metallic gunpowder and burnt redstone. He could feel the gold armor chest plate under the soft, dark green hoodie. 

“Dad.. Dad ‘m sorry. Please don’ be mad..” The sentence was muffled by the hoodie, but Sam could hear it loud and clear. He could hear the raspiness of George’s voice. He shouldn’t be talking right now. He could hear George mumbling incoherently into his hoodie. He could hear the fear and fatigue in his voice. 

“‘lease, Dad. I don’ know wha’s happenin’.” He could feel him shaking and hear him take too short breaths. 

“Hey, George? Can you hear me?” A nod. “Okay, that’s good. I'm gonna pick you up and we’re gonna go home, okay? Is that okay?” He didn't feel anything other than the full-body shaking of George. Sam was ready to get the attention of Quackity, who was standing behind Sam trying to figure out what to do when he felt another nod. 

“Alright. 3.. 2..” Sam had picked George up in a bridal style and adjusted himself so George’s head was laying on his shoulder. George moved his arms so there were around himself. Once Sam knew that George was comfortable and breathing, he turned around the Quackity who was looking at George with a worried look on his face. 

“Big Q?” He looked at Sam. “You remember where my place is?” A nod. Sam smiled at how similar his two sons are. “Can you go ahead and get some stuff ready at home? I’ll get George home.” Quackity looked at George again and nodded.

“Is he gonna be okay?” It was Sam’s turn to nod. “We just gotta take him home.” Quackity nodded again and a determined look came across his face. “What do I need to do?”

~~

Sam took 25 minutes to arrive in the Badlands and another 10 to get to his place. George had passed out on the way. He knows that this has happened before, but never to this extent. He didn’t realize that he would be scared that he would be mad. Maybe he was in the moment, but hearing George sound so.. broken made his heart break. He could never stay mad at that.

When he found Callahan in Church Prime, he was going to put him in a holding cell. He was also gonna put George in a holding cell too, but he wasn’t ready to admit that to himself yet. Callahan had frantically signed to Sam that Dream still had his communicator.

He had signed that Dream had managed to convince them to break him out. How he had helped Dream because he didn’t want to be in debt to him. He told Sam that Dream had said something to George when he had first arrested him, but never caught what he said. 

How when he saw George breaking the wall that led to the cell (Sam had to take a breath when he heard that) he saw him look like he wanted to break down as well. That he had shattered his communicator into pieces and they ran. 

Sam didn’t try to stop him from leaving Church Prime.

He hasn’t seen George like this in a while. The last time he did this was.. years ago. He never thought that it could get this bad. He saw him freeze up like a deer in headlights when he stepped into his line of sight. He saw how he didn’t look there.

Sam saw so much, and he’s mad at himself that he didn’t notice it sooner. 

He shook his head. It wasn’t the time for that. Right now he has to help George and explain what was happening to Quackity. 

Once he had flipped the hidden lever for access to his house, noticing that the leaves hiding it were disturbed, he saw Quackity waiting at the entrance with a few soft blankets and a smile. Fran is sitting next to him, wagging her tail once she sees them. 

“Took you long enough.”

~~

It took 10 minutes of flying to get to Sam’s place. 

It felt refreshing to be in the clouds again. It also felt like he could let go of all his worries in the skies, but he would never go too high. He always had this irrational fear of burning up or being stuck with the stars. The clouds were always cold. It helped him not get too into his own thoughts. He could always count on the skies. 

He didn't have a problem looking from far distances. If anything, he could debate whether or not his eyesight was better in the distance. Even if he is gradually going blind, he could still see relatively well. That meant that once the Badlands were in sight, he folded his wings and started to take a deep dive towards the forest. 

The wind in his ears always mixed with the quick descend to the ground always gave him a rush of adrenaline. It would remind him that he could bounce back from what people threw at him. That he would still be able to do things like this to spite the people trying to knock him down a peg. He just wished that people had that same bounce back. 

Right before he was about to hit the trees, he spread his wings, gliding on top of the trees and to a small mountain to the left. He rolled to land on the top of the mountain safely and started to make his way down. He didn’t bother Taking the ‘safe’ way down, he started to basically rock climb down, catching himself on the steepest ledges. It was something he had learned from Schlatt before the entire Election. 

He missed those times sometimes. 

Once he made it down the mountain, he saw the lever hidden in some leaves and growing vines and flipped it, not bothering to put the leaves back knowing that Sam would get here soon. He heard the sound of pistons and turned around to see the stone at the side of the mountain opening. 

Sam’s places always impressed him. It didn’t matter how many times he would see different secret entrances and different builds and blueprints of plans cluttered around everywhere, it impressed him every time because you can tell that a lot of effort was put into everything. 

When Quackity walks in, he can see that the mountain has been hollowed and dugout. There are three floors in total. The bottom floor or basement, accessible through a side staircase with banisters is probably revamped and enforced with different types of stone experimental room. It's where Sam keeps his plans and small builds and prototypes on different tables and counters. The smell of red stone and different metals is constant and could sometimes be smelt from the upper floors.

Quackity could imagine the organized mess that only Sam himself seems to understand. He could imagine the shelves filled with different jars of materials, rolls of blueprints being stacked and stopped by different books, and small trinkets. He could imagine the different tables filled with unfinished projects and different tools. Sam would always call this his “Workshop”. George and Quackity would always agree to let him work in his element and not bother him much when he was in his zone. 

He hears the sound of claws running up the stairs. His wings puffed up on instinct and he pulls out a sword. The source of the sound finally shows itself as a dog with a yellow collar. Quackity quickly puts his sword away, crouches down, and sticks out a hand. The dog walks up to him hesitantly and sniffs his hand. Once the dog deemed him friendly, she barrelled right into him knocking him down. 

“Wha- Hey!” The dog starts to relentlessly lick his face. “Wait- Stop-!” He can’t lie that he’s laughing. He manages to finally get the dog to sit and checks the nametag on the yellow collar. The name tag was shaped like a bone which made Quackity smile. “Fran huh?” Fran only looked at him and panted. “Well, hopefully, you could help me. C’mon!” 

Quackity started to walk towards the kitchen passing the living room. He can see the small projector sticking out of the floor facing a blank wall being covered by a small coffee table. There was a soft rug with a small space for the projector surrounded by different couches and seats. On the seats were a few small pillows and blankets draped over the backrests. The oak planks for flooring helped give the place a homey feel to it. There were a few bookshelves next to a fluffy beanbag. Next to the bean bag was a dog bed. 

Passing by the staircase that led to the upstairs, where he assumed where all the bedrooms were, he made it to the kitchen. The kitchen in general was mostly made out of different types of quartz. Diorite and marble walls and counters mixing nicely with the whiteness of the kitchen. Spruce wood holds up the counters and makes up the drawers and cabinets holding different cooking materials and utensils. There was the usual sink, stove, oven, and regular appliances, but Quackity thought that they looked arranged in a way that it looked like it belonged in a fancy house, instead of inside a mountain. But it also had a homey feel to it. Quackity doesn’t know how Sam managed to do that. 

The dining room also looked like it could be in a fancy house. The simple but intricate pattern of the chandelier hung on top of the dark oak table reminded him of a room of a mansion. The spruce floors also complimented the room as well. Torch handles with unlit torches are lined on the wall as well. He never knew how Sam managed to make a room look like something out of a movie. After he was done admiring the dining room, he went back to the kitchen and grabbed some ingredients for some soup. 

~~

After adding all the ingredients into a pot and letting it boil, he went upstairs to where all the bedrooms were. Each bedroom was pretty bare, but in a way where it looked like a blank canvas ready to be decorated. Each room has a bed, a desk, a closet, and a few bookshelves. Each bed had a respective color. Dark blue (For Quackity), light blue (For George), dark green (For Sam), and some miscellaneous colors in different rooms. Sam’s room was already decorated and organized to his liking, so Quackity didn't bother to look around the room as much. He went to his closet and grabbed a few hoodies and grabbed a soft blanket folded on the bed. 

Fran, who had been following him around the entire house, saw that Quackity was grabbing blankets and went to the other rooms. Quackity knows that Fran isn't a small dog. Fran was his size when he was crouched down and very smart. Fran had stayed out of his way when he was moving around the kitchen making the soup. So it shouldn’t have surprised Quackity when he saw her open the door to the room next door and brought him a fluffy blanket. And did the same thing to the other rooms. She even brought him a pillow from an office room that he had found earlier! 

“What the fuck?”

~~

When Quackity heard Fran bark a few times and run down the stairs, he knew that Sam and George were nearby. So Quackity grabbed a few blankets and started to walk towards the door, holding the door for Fran. 

Before entering the actual base, there was a little waiting room. The waiting room was nothing big, had a few beanbags for seats, and had the other lever to close the door after entering. Fran was sitting next to him while waiting and when Quackity was going to sit down, the sound of pistons echoed through the mostly hollowed room. He smiled when he saw Sam, but it dropped the tiniest bit, not enough to be noticeable when he saw George was passed out again. 

“Took you long enough.”

~~

George woke up to some shaking of his shoulders and a soft blanket around him. He felt too comfortable to move, so he just brought the blanket over his head. The shoulder started to shake him harder. He stuck a hand out of his cocoon and put a hand to a face. 

“St’p. ‘M sleep.” He patted the face. 

“Excuse you bitch, you need to eat.” He recognized the voice as Quackity and pushed his face away. “Hey! Rude!” 

George, significantly more awake than a few seconds ago, turned around, the blanket still around him. “Yeah, and you’re-” he brought his hand to his mouth and coughed. Coughing hurt. A lot. “Loud.” His voice actually felt dead now. 

“Hey, no talking idiota. Can you at least drink this soup that oh so kindly made for you?”

George finally removed the blanket from his head and sat up. He didn’t know where he was, but it looked nice. He looked at Quackity who was holding a mug of steaming chicken and potato soup. He could see some vegetables in the mug too. He took the mug and motioned his hands to the living room.  _ “Where are we?”  _ Talking in his first language didn’t hurt his throat as much. It was tolerable at least. 

Quackity blinked at him and laughed nervously. “Huh?”

Sam walked into the living room with a worried look on his face.  _ “You don't know where we are?”  _ George shook his head. Quackity looked confused now. “You can understand what he said?” Sam gave him a nod. 

_ “George, what’s your favorite color?” _ George just looked away from Sam and drank some soup.  _ “George?” _ He just blinked a few times while drinking some more soup. 

“Quackity? Can you take him to his room?”

Quackity looked at Sam with a confused face and looked at George. “Hey, George?” George looked at him, soup gone from the mug. Quackity took the mug and grabbed his hand. “C’mon Gogy.” He got George to get up and lean on him. They started walking to the staircase. “Up the stairs we go.” 

After George was upstairs and on his bed, he left the room (not without letting Fran into the room because she was whining) he went to Sam who was sitting on the beanbag. 

“Can you please explain what’s happening now?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Depictions of Panic Attacks and Derealization/Disassociation  
> All characters written in this story are about the personas that they portray on the Dream SMP  
> Other than that, Enjoy!

Sam and Quackity were currently sitting on opposite sides of the dining table. Quackity was sitting up straight and had a neutral face ready to retain any and all information being given to him. 

Sam was significantly more relaxed than Quackity, nursing a cup of coffee. He leaned back in his chair and chugged the rest of the coffee. He put the cup down and looked at Quackity. “What do you want to know?”

Sam leaned forward to rest his arms on the table. “This happens when something traumatic happens to George. I've only helped him through these a handful of times. The only reason why I'm not explaining more than that is because George didn’t want you to know about this.”

Quackity looked more confused than annoyed. “What? Why?”

Sam just sighed. “It's something you have to ask him yourself when he gets better. The most we can do is be there for him and take care of him.” 

Quackity asked another question. “How.. how long will that be?” Now Quackity sounded worried. 

Sam looked out of the kitchen and at the stairs. “I don't know. As long as it takes.”

~~

George was back in his hobbit house. 

He remembers coming back from the debate against WIlbur and Tommy. He remembers Quackity destroying the competition and had them stuck in a few words. He was always impressed with how Quackity had a way with words. He didn’t have the same ability, but he tried his best. But now he was in the safety of his home, supplies already on a table. 

“Alright, brewing stand, blaze powder, feathers, fermented spider eyes, phantom membranes, book and quill, bottles, nether wart..” George was listing everything that he needed for some experiments that he wanted to try out. Once he made sure that he had everything he needed, he got to work. 

After filling the three bottles with water and making the Awkward Potions with nether wart, he put all three Awkward Potions on their respective places in the brewing stand. He grabbed the blaze power and poured it down the small funnel in the middle of the brewing stand. After waiting for the small vial under the funnel to be filled, he grabbed a random item from the table. A fermented spider eye. 

After grabbing a few more spider eyes and putting them in the small port on top of the vial, George was unsurprised to find out that he made a slowness potion. Not waiting for the bottles to cool down, but being careful of the hot port, he grabbed a cut phantom membrane, not expecting anything to happen. He was proven wrong when he saw small drops of dulled blue mix with the grey of the slowness potion. 

“What?” He watched as each bottle was done brewing and ended up with a dulled down blue. He doesn't know if he's seeing the right color, but he could care less. His communicator buzzed.

**GeorgeNotFound has made the advancement** [Learn Something Brew Everyday]

~~

Dream was sitting on the ledge of the courthouse looking down at the SMP. 

He’s still running on his high of the debate. He doesn’t really know what’s gotten into him, but at this point, he doesn’t really care. It felt good that he could manipulate something to work for him and get away with it. He’s still reeling that he has the ability to do that. That he can do that without getting caught. That everyone will go along with what he says and no one will question it. 

He doesn’t get to think about it much after he gets a notification on his communicator. As the admin of this server, he gets the notifications and advancements of everyone first before the public chat. It gets run by him first. This just proves his own point that he has power that he can use however he wants. 

**GeorgeNotFound has made the advancement** [Learn Something Brew Everyday] 

Hmm. He gets up from the ledge and starts walking towards the water transport to the ground. 

He declines the option to show the public chat. 

~~

Dream arrives at George’s house and knocks on the door. A muffled ‘Come in!’ Came from inside the house. Taking that, he walked in the house and immediately saw George frantically writing in a book. “Dream!” He holds up a bottle of muddy purple liquid. “What color is this?!” 

“It’s a weird shade of purple. Are you okay? It looks like you’re about to fall over.” Dream gave a nervous laugh and moved to where George was writing notes. He could see at the top of the page ‘Lethargy Potion’. He draped over his back and rested his head on top of George’s. “What’s that?” 

George stopped writing momentarily to rub his eyes. “It’s uh.. it’s a new potion that I made. I didn’t even know that this existed. I drank some.” he motioned to the table. Dream could see a half drunk bottle of purple liquid. He went back to writing. His handwriting was getting messier and messier the more he wrote. Dream, still riding on his power high, starts to ask him some questions. 

“I'm proud of you Georgie. Can you tell me more about it?” George didn’t even bat an eye. He started to explain the entire process he went through making it. He started to explain what it does. He said that it made him tired and fatigued. That it might be the slowness potion. That he was trying to write down connections with the ingredients used. That he’s too tired to make any connections. 

So much information was being said by George that he had to take a second to process all of it. Then Dream had the realization. That he got away with it. He had managed to get so much information that he could use later in such a little amount of time. 

“I'm really proud of you Georgie and I would love to hear you talk for hours, but it sounds like you're gonna pass out.” Dream wasn’t lying about that. If there wasn't any fatigue in his voice, it certainly was in his posture. If Dream wasn’t holding him right now, he probably would have fallen. “C’mon.” He picked him up bridal style, ignoring George’s protests of needing to write down some more notes. “You’re gonna go to bed and sleep this off. I’ll wake you up later, okay?” He gave him a small smile. 

George rolled his eyes and returned the smile. “Promise?”

They arrived at his room. Dream gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“Promise.”

~~

Fran has been in George’s room for the past few hours and Sam and Quackity have been getting worried. Not because of the fact that they might be in danger, Sam’s base is probably the most secure place they can be right now, but because of the fact that they haven't heard anything from upstairs in those few hours. It’s been too quiet. 

They stayed downstairs though. They didn’t really know what to do other than to wait for something like a sign. Sam was down in his workshop working on a project while Quackity was preening his feathers on the couch. He stopped mid preen when he heard the door open and claws hit the wood flooring. Fran walked all the way down the staircase, went straight to Quackity, and started to pull on his pant leg and whine. 

Quackity got up from the couch and followed Fran up the stairs and to George’s room. George looks like he’s having a panic attack. He’s curled up in the corner of the bed, his breathing isn’t frantic like last time but it’s irregular rough for it to be concerning. He has tears in his eyes. Fran jumps on the bed and shoves her hand into his hands and gets on top of him, forcing him to uncurl his legs. 

Quackity walks in and sits on the edge of the bed. “Hey, George? Can you hear me?” George snaps his head into Quackity’s direction and shakily nods. “Okay, good that’s good? Does it hurt anywhere?” George takes a second to respond, but shakes his head no. George lifts his hands and starts to talk in what looks like sign language. “Fuck, George I’m sorry, I dont undertstand sign language.” 

George nods and his hands go back to Fran. Quackity makes sure to talk softly. “Hey, George? Is it okay if I leave to get Sam? I think he knows sign language.” Quackity makes a risk and holds his hand. George turns his hand around to properly hold hands. Quackity squeezes it. “I promise I'll be back in a few minutes.” George frantically shakes his head and squeezes Quackity’s hand in a vice grip. He sucks in a breath and says a few words. “D-don’t-” He coughs and wheezes after, trying to get a breath in. “Promise. Don’t.” He coughs. Quackity backtracks.

“Okay, okay. I won't, but I have to get Sam. Is that okay? I will be back.” George holds onto his hand even tighter and shakes his head. “Okay. That’s okay.” Quackity moves right next to George to prove his point. “I'm not going anywhere.” Quackity looks at Fran. He doesn't know if this is gonna work but he might as well try. “I don't know if you understand me, but can you get Sam please?” 

Fran looked at Quackity, bumped noses with George and ran out the room. Quackity looked back at George. “Alright, George? Can you feel this?” He squeezes his hand for a few seconds and then lets go. George nods. “Okay, that good! Can you try to take in a breath when I squeeze your hand?” George nods again, so Quackity took that as a go. He squeezed his hand again and George tried to take in a breath. That was the routine until Sam came in with Fran a few minutes later. 

“Out. Please get out. Dream, I ca-'' His voice cut off. He didn't look at the door. He put his free hand to his throat and started to shake his head. He looked panicked again. Quackity was quick to direct his attention to him again after giving Sam an equally panicked look.

Sam left and closed the door without a word. 

~~

A few hours later, Sam cracked the door open to see George lying on the bed with a soft blanket over him with head in Quackity’s lap who was leaning on the headboard of the bed and running his hand through his hair.

George didn’t acknowledge or turn to the door. He could see that he was awake though, he just wasn’t.. present. Quackity looked at Sam with worried eyes, and his wings were tense. Sam on instinct started to hiss. It was always something that he noticed calmed them both down. True to his thoughts, they both visibly relaxed.

Fran shoves herself through the opening of the door and jumps on the bed. She steps over George and starts to paw over the blanket a few times. Once she was satisfied with the blanket, she lied down right against George. She made sure to shove her head under his hand too. She started wagging her tail when George rubbed a finger over her fur. 

Quackity noticed that Sam wasn’t wearing his usual outfit. Instead of his usual clothes, mask, and armor, he was wearing socks, grey sweatpants, and a vibrant red hoodie. The color reminded him of something, but did not think too much of it. He wasn't wearing his mask so his creeper scales were visible. So were his eyes. When Quackity first saw his eyes, he was startled. He didn't know that his eyes were pinpricks of white around a completely black selcra. It doesn't startle him anymore, obviously, but it still felt odd to see them every once in a while. 

Sam walked in the room and sat on the edge of the bed. George didn’t react. He looked much more focused on trying not to fall asleep. His eyes would close for a bit and then open them a few seconds later. Sam moved to sit beside Quackity and leaned back on the headboard as well. He let out another hiss.

Quackity, deciding that the headboard wasn’t as comfortable anymore, moved his head to lean on Sam’s shoulder. He folded his wings once he was comfortable. The hand that was carding through George’s hair was slowing to a stop when he started falling asleep. 

Sam just adjusted himself for his arm to be around Quackity. Quackity fell asleep soon after. 

“George?” He didn’t react. “I don’t know if you can hear me or not but it’s okay.. if you want to go to bed. Your brother won’t be moving and neither will I. I doubt Fran will move either.” Fran perked up at her name. 

Sam didn’t go to bed until he knew that everyone in the room was sleeping. Once he saw that George had fallen asleep, he rested his head on Quackity’s and fell asleep a few minutes later.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All characters written in this story are about the personas that they portray on the Dream SMP  
> Heads up, the next few chapters are going to be George processing his memories/trauma  
> Other than that, Enjoy!

George was in his hobbit house. 

Dream had just taken him from the battle of L’manburg. Or what used to be L’manburg. It was a crater now. Everything smelled like gunpowder. He couldn’t get the image of Quackity out of his head. He couldn’t get the image of that entire situation out of his head. Did he really sleep through all of that? 

The only reason why he went to go check it out was that he saw on his communicator that there were Withers. He missed something big. He knows he has. He hasn’t said anything to Dream. He doesn’t know where to start. Well, maybe he does. 

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” His throat feels dry, but he doesn’t care at the moment. Right now he wants answers. Dream isn’t answering him. “Dream.” Why isn’t he answering him? “Dream, I just saw L’manburg. It’s an entire crater.” 

“It’s not like it's the first time.”

“Answer my question.”

“No.” George gave him a look. He walked up to Dream, who was staring out a window and turned him around. Dream has his mask on. There’s some blood on the usual white ceramic. He sees a few feathers stuck to his hoodie. Pure black and golden yellow. Fear flooded his senses. “What the hell did you do to Quackity?” 

Dream turned his head away. “He was going to hurt you.” He had the audacity to sound worried. “You want me to answer your question? I couldn’t.” George stood up straight. 

“What?”

Dream turned his head back to him. They were facing each other now. “You wouldn’t wake up. I tried to wake you up, you didn’t. I didn’t move you either because this was the safest location you could have been. There’s too much happening right now. You could have been hurt.” 

George took a second to process that. He couldn’t wake up. He didn’t think that the potion effect would last that long. He didn’t even know that that was possible. Dream was keeping him safe? Safe from what? He still didn’t know what the danger was. The last thing he remembered was..

“The Election.” Dream tilted his head. “How long has it been since the Election?”

Dream looked away. “It’s been a few months.” 

George took a step back. A few months? No wonder Quackity was mad at him. He was his running mate and he didn’t show up. He told him that he was going to be there. So much has happened, that much he could tell. He walked in on an entire war earlier. How is he gonna explain that to Quackity?

“I don't think you should.”

Oh. He said that out loud. 

“Just hear me out! Hear me out!” George didn’t say anything. A sign to let him continue.

“Would Quackity believe you? That fact that you made a completely new potion, drank it, and fell asleep for a few months?” George blinked. When it was put like that, it did sound kinda out there. It sounded like some elaborate lie. 

“I think that you should keep it to yourself. It was your discovery in the first place.” Dream stepped closer to George and gave him a hug. “I just wanna keep you safe Georgie.” There was something in his tone of voice that George couldn’t pinpoint. “There’s a lot that’s happened in these few months.” George didn’t say anything and hugged him back. Dream was making some sense and it would be easier for George to keep it to himself anyway. 

“There is a way that you could stay safe and you don't have to stay here if you don't want to.” George looked up from the hug and gave Dream a questioning look. “‘George the King of the SMP’ has a nice ring to it, don't you think Georgie?” 

“Didn’t you appoint Eret King after the first L’manburg war?”

“Yeah, but the one rule of King is to stay neutral in any and all situations. He fought with Pogtopia.” 

“What?”

George couldn’t see Dream’s face, but he could tell that he was looking at him. 

“Yeah, there’s uh.. There’s a lot to catch you up on. But I'll explain that later. How ‘bout this? If you take the position, you wouldn’t have to worry about anything that goes on unless you really want to, you would stay safe with the crown. No one would mess with you or target you. You could work on whatever you want in the castle too if you wanted.” 

George didn’t need to think about it much to agree to the terms. 

Dream never took off his mask.

~~

A crown was on George’s doorstep the next day with a small note that said ‘:)’. 

The crown itself was beautiful. Polished pure gold with bright blue diamond gems embedded into the band of the crown. There were small engravings into the crown-making small, intricate vines and mushrooms. The arches were shaped into small squares. George put it on and sure enough, it fit quite well. 

After bringing it inside his house and changing into different clothing, blue sneakers, black jeans, a bright blue shirt with a darker blue jacket with soft wool and red stripes, a satchel under the jacket with his usual white goggles, he placed the crown on his head and began the walk to the castle. 

When he entered SMP territory, George had a bad feeling. He immediately felt like he was being watched. He didn’t ignore it per se, but it wasn’t relevant to the walk to the castle. He felt more confident and he was sure that it showed when he walked. If people were watching, he wasn’t going to give them a hint that he knew. He only turned to look at the crater that used to be L’manburg and saw a shadow of a person disappear from the corner of his eye. 

He kept walking. 

When he arrived at the front of the castle, Eret was already outside the castle doors still wearing his crown. Captain Puffy, Callahan, and Dream were standing with him outside the castle. Puffy was standing with Dream in the back of the group laughing about something. Callahan was sitting next to Eret on the castle steps in silence. When Callahan had noticed George, he stood up and walked towards him, signing,  _ “You look good. Like a King.” _ Callahan gave a smile when George rolled his eyes playfully. 

“Couldn’t help but make a pun?” Callahan silently laughed. 

Eret walked up to him next. “At least I know who’s taking the crown.”

George looked up at Eret and gave a nervous smile. She had her platform boots making her even taller than usual and she was wearing her sunglasses as well. The glare of the sun made her eyes look like they were glowing. She looked intimidating. She turned back for a second and crouched down to George’s level. He felt offended for a second before she started whispering to him.

“You can't let Dream use you as a pawn. You have to know that the crown is a front for Dream to do what he wants. You have to-”

“Eret.” Dream’s voice cut off Eret’s sentence like a knife. “I need you to take off the crown.” Eret looked back at Dream, who was staring him down. He nodded and took it off. He put it on the ground in front of him. Eret left without another word. 

~~

Everyone was in the throne room. George was sitting on the gold throne, Callahan leaning on the throne on George’s left side, Puffy standing on his right side, and Dream standing in front of him explaining the roles of everyone.

“I've appointed Puffy and Callahan as your royal guards for some extra protection.”

George was confused now. “Didn’t you say that no one would try to do anything if I was King?”

“I did, I did! This is just an extra precaution. A just in case. If anything happens anyway, I'll deal with it. It’s your job to stay neutral anyway.” George nodded. He could do that. 

While they were discussing more details on everyone’s roles, the castle doors were opened. 

Technoblade was standing in the doorway. He wasn’t wearing any armor, but the weapons that he had were very visible. His ax, sword, trident, and two crossbows were all on his person. Before anyone could say anything, Techno drew his multi-shot firework crossbow and shot at the throne. 

All of them reacted quickly. Dream threw George his sword and drew his shield, taking most of the damage and getting to the ground from the force of the close-range shot. Puffy drew her sword and Callahan grabbed George’s hand and down a hallway. 

Techno, moving faster than usual, was following them and was gaining on them. George, running beside Callahan, saw him get thrown to a wall and felt a sword to his throat. George saw blood on the wall where Callahan was thrown. The sword was pressing into his neck, drawing blood. 

George dropped his sword and took a step back. Techno took a step forward. They kept going like that until George was up against a wall. The sword was drawing a worrying amount of blood. Techno’s free hand went up to take George’s goggles off. 

When Techno’s hand had touched his goggles, George grabbed his wrist, side-ducked under the sword, cutting his throat even more, and gave Techno an uppercut. George fixed his glasses and ran to Callahan, who was passed out on the floor. George took two steps when he felt his swept from under him. He face-planted. The sword that he dropped was right in front of him. Techno’s voice echoed through the hallway.

“Down with the King!”

George grabbed the sword and blocked an arching hit from Techno. Multiple arrows hit Techno. Puffy and Dream were at the entrance of the hallway drawing more arrows. 

Techno, knowing that this battle was lost, jumped out the window. Arrows stuck themselves into the window sill and George heard footsteps come towards him. He dropped the sword and started to cover his throat to prevent more blood loss. He saw Dream start to help him up, but waved him off.

“Check on Callahan. I’m fine, check on Callahan.” Dream nodded and went to help Puffy with Callahan. George stood up and looked for his goggles. He found them lying on the ground, one of the lenses broken. He took a deep breath and hooked them on a belt loop. He turned to Dream

“I think I’ll be staying in my house for a few weeks.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All characters written in this story are about the personas that they portray on the Dream SMP  
> Other than that, Enjoy!

For a few weeks, he did stay in his house. He would go by the castle every once in a while, but no longer than a few hours. Every time he walked past L’manburg, he would see construction in different parts of the crater. He saw new people helping out too. 

George would see a tall enderman hybrid wearing a suit talking to Tommy or Tubbo. He learned that his name was Ranboo. He knew that he didn’t like eye contact and that he was very nervous around people he didn’t know well. He didn’t interact much with him.

George would see a guy wearing a Sonic onesie constantly. He would see him holding entire conversations with the air sometimes. He would also see him talking to Tommy sometimes. The only thing George knew about him was that his name was Connor. 

For those few weeks, he would walk past what was now called New L’manburg to see the progression of it being built. He would see the foundation of spruce planks and houses and buildings being built on New L’manburg He would see Wilbur floating around looking transparent. George later learned that he was killed by Philza. 

Sometimes, if George was lucky, he would have a conversation with Quackity. Of course, Quackity was still mad at him for the Election because he never gave him a reason for why he missed it, but he slowly stopped bringing it up, knowing that he wouldn’t get an answer. He would take a walk with him to his house to hang out if he was really lucky.

They were good hangouts that George would give anything to make last. 

Two weeks after New L’manburg was built, he was walking home. There were no new developments in the SMP that really George really cared about. There haven’t been any more assassination attempts on George and he was staying safe as can be. That should have been the case. 

It was one of those days where Quackity walked George home. He wouldn’t have been able to stay this time because he had a meeting to attend with the cabinet of New L’manburg. George understood but that didn’t stop the bitter feeling that he had. The bitter feeling changed into confusion and anger when he saw the state of his house.

His house was burned to the ground, still smoldering. Everything was charred and ash. Pieces of netherrack on fire were scattered around his lawn as well. There was a sign in the middle of the burned house.

‘- Bad and Skeppy’

George forgot that Quackity was there until he spoke. “Shit. Who did this?”

George knew that it wasn’t Bad or Skeppy. There were different signs around with various insults and curses. Bad wouldn’t write any of these signs and George is on good terms with Skeppy. There’s only one person that comes to mind when he thinks of who might have done it, but he doesn’t want to say anything in front of Quackity. 

George knows that Quackity is good friends with Tommy, so he doesn't voice his suspicions with Quackity. Instead, he starts a walk back to the castle. He doesn’t take anything from the pile of charred wood and ash. 

“George? George?! Wait a second!”

He turns to look at Quackity and doesn’t show anything other than dulled anger. Quackity can tell that he’s mad because of his curled fists at his side and the slight shaking.

“I have to make a call.”

~~

George arrives at the castle while on a call with Dream on the communicator. George tells Dream that he’s at the castle and walks to the throne room to wait for him. 

A few minutes later, Dream walks into the room and immediately gives George a hug. George hugs back and can’t help but let a few tears fall. George tells Dream about his house, the signs, and his suspicions on Tommy. When George mentions Tommy, Dream cuts him off and tells him that he’ll handle it. 

George doesn’t know what that exactly means, but he trusts Dream so he doesn’t question it. 

A few days later, Dream sent him a location. George, who was now living in the castle, walked to the new courthouse. When he got there, he could see that everyone was sitting on benches in the courthouse. There were a few cells on each side of the court. On the right side, Tommy was sitting in a cell aggressively cursing and stating that he shouldn’t be in the cell. Tubbo, Fundy, and Quackity were in front of him trying to talk to him. On the left side, he could see that Ranboo was in a cell sitting quietly with Niki. On the judge's stand was Connor. Dream as next to him, arms crossed and leaning on the stand. 

When George walked into the courthouse, Dream was the first one to notice him. He stopped leaning and walked over to him. 

“I can do the talking if you don't want to.” George shook his head. “It’s fine.” They both walked to the left of the judge's stand. George could see Quackity staring at him in disbelief. He looked like he was going to say something, but before he could, Connor hit the sounding block. 

“Alright! I don’t really know what I'm doing here, but I assume that it's for legal reasons. I don’t know the situation so could someone explain please?” Connor looked around the court. Tommy’s voice piped up from the cell.

“This is bullshit! The ‘reason’ is that I’m being accused of something I didn’t even fucking do!” Connor looked lost. 

“Uh.. Okay, what is he being accused of exactly?” George spoke next.

“For burning down my house.”

Connor blinked. “Why are we dealing with it here? You could have talked amongst yourselves and not brought everyone here.” 

Dream turned his head to Connor. “The reason why we’re dealing with it here is that George is King of the SMP. He stands in place for the SMP when I’m not there,” George ignored that. “The reason why Tommy is in that cell right now is because of the fact that he is Vice President of a nation that we haven’t touched. He holds power and thinks he can get away with stuff like this.”

“Ey, bitch boy! You don’t even have any evidence that I did anything in the first place!”

Connor hit the sounding block again, sensing that people were going to start yelling soon. He took a second, then started speaking. “Okay, here’s how this is going to work since I’m the judge. Each side will have one representative to call one witness. The representative will ask the witness question about their side of the case. Then after everything, a side gets to make demands. Is that alright with everyone?” 

Everyone on both sides agreed. Tommy started to yell at Connor then stopped when Fundy pulled one of three levers. Tommy stopped talking. 

“Who’s going first?” 

George looked around the room. He saw Tubbo, Fundy, Quackity, and Tommy discussing who they were going to call as a witness. George could tell that Quackity was going to be the representative for their side. He turned to Dream, who was looking at him and letting him take the lead. George internally thanked him for that. He saw the people on the benches talk amongst themselves on what was happening. George turned around to see Ranboo looking at his feet in the cell. There shouldn’t be any reason why he was locked up. Unless..

“I’d like to call a witness if that’s alright with you Connor.”

Connor looked at George. Everyone looked surprised that George had spoken up. Quackity looked confused, knowing that his brother was planning something. 

“Are you the representative for your side?”

George nodded. 

“Then go for it.” 

George gestured to Ranboo. “My witness is Ranboo.” He saw Ranboo look up and heard Tommy start yelling. Fundy pulled another lever. Tommy didn’t stop talking. “Ranboo wasn’t with me!” He stopped talking. George cocked a brow and walked in front of Tommy. The cabinet of New L’manburg backed away from him. “Is that a confession?”

Tommy paled processing what he said and laughed nervously. “Come on Gogy, I say a lot of things-”

“Is that a confession? Yes or no,  _ child _ ?” 

Tommy looked to the cabinet and said through gritted teeth, “Yes, it's a fucking confession.”

“So you admit to burning down my house, putting down signs around my house insulting me, trying to frame other people, and stealing some of my things?” 

“Oh fuck off, Gogy! Yes! There, you happy?!” George turned around to go back to Dream. He felt his communicator buzz in his pocket. He ignored it. “ Then I trust Dream can handle the rest from here.” 

And with that, George left the courthouse. 

~~

Quackity walked into the throne room in the middle of a conversation between Dream and George. 

“What the fuck was that?! George! What the fuck was that?!”

Dream stood protectively in front of George, who was sitting on the throne. His crown and goggles were on. George sat up straight. “It was fair game. That’s what it was.” He knew that speaking calmly would get Quackity mad. He was right when he saw Quackity’s wings puff up. The feathers that were still growing made him look like a chicken. George smiled. It was small enough so Quackity wouldn’t see it. 

“George, you got a confession out of Tommy out of nothing! Then you decide to leave the rest of your case, mind you, in the hands of a-” 

“If you came here to insult me or Dream because of a case that I had in my right to leave to Dream after I had won, _ mind you _ , then you can leave. Because unless you want to discuss the current situation with Tommy or my property, I don't want to hear it.”

Quackity stared at George. He didn’t move and he didn’t say anything. George didn’t want to see him right now. Did Quackity really think that he could barge in here and start petty insults? George rolled his eyes. “Dream, please escort Quackity out of the castle.”

Quackity tried to look at George through his goggles. “I can leave myself.”

George stood up. “Then do it. You know where the door is. Unless you need an escort because you still aren't moving.” Dream stepped in front of Quackity, cutting his line of sight with George. George wasn't able to see, but Dream pulled his mask up to show Quackity a sly smirk and a small head tilt.

George saw Quackity leave shaking.


End file.
